What the media is saying about holidaying in South Africa?

Gene Sloan, USA Today
"The country (South Africa) remains an incredible bargain despite a sharp drop in the value of the U.S. dollar vs. the South African rand the past year."

Rachel L. Swarns, New York Times Johannesburg Bureau Chief
“I decided to find an experience…that was considerably more intimate than the typical tourist junket. I knew I had found it when I learned that a small, but growing number of foreigners were spending the night with middle-class and working-class families in Soweto to see the rhythms and routines of the new era firsthand… white South Africans, many of whom have never set foot in the black communities so closeto their doorsteps…do not know what they are missing. At Mrs. Mabitsela's house, we talked until midnight and then I collapsed in my bed. In the morning, I woke to the familiar sounds of a house stirring from sleep… I settled in at the table for a nice breakfast of tea, hot wheat cereal and fat cakes, which are fried dumplings, and some easy conversation. And when Mrs. Mabitsela started singing again, all felt right with the world.”

Dave Matthews, Dave Matthews Band, Time Magazine
“I go back to South Africa at least once a year, sometimes twice, and usually for a month. And probably, I'm guessing, I'll spend more time back there as I get older…South Africa gives me a perspective of what's real and what's not real…So I go back to South Africa to both lose myself and gain awareness of myself. Every time I go back, it doesn't take long for me to get caught into a very different thing. A very different sense of myself. It's a melting pot, southern Africa. You find these cultural collisions that result in art and music, and it's pretty amazing.”

Will Smith, actor, InStyle magazine
(interviewed following the filming of “Ali”) "I felt like God lived there--like God visits everywhere else, but he LIVES in Africa."

Kenneth Walker, National Public Radio News, Cape Town
“…In addition to touting itself as a safe destination, officials are also pointing out that the local currency, the rand, is at record lows against the dollar and the euro, which means of course that tourists' money will go a lot farther in South Africa.”

Murphy Coles (American Traveler)
 “I think, basically speaking, this could be one of the safest places that you could be if you're in that type of a tenseness about traveling throughout the world.  I wouldn't want to be any other place right now.”

Chris Matthews, “Host of CNBC’s Hard Ball”
“In this time of global trouble, I send you this postcard of hope. It's the holiday picture I carry in my heart of a thousand South Africans of every race enjoying a jazz concert together and, with it, this beautiful land's resurgence of national vitality…. What if peoples learn to coexist, even share a national life together? …What if the forces that unite and bind societies outwit those pulling them apart?  Here on a two-week visit with my family I saw that "what if" in action….I possess no grander souvenir of this spectacular Cape of Good Hope than the vivid, palpable memory of men and women, black and white, sitting together on a warm summer evening and smiling to the seductive optimism of Louis Armstrong.” 

Travel expert Peter Greenberg, ABC's “The View”
Lisa Ling (host):
For people who want to leave the country, where are the safest places to go?
Greenberg: 
…You've got South Africa.  The South African rand right now is 9 cents to the US dollar - it's never been lower.  Go to Cape Town, it's great.

Robert Selwitz, Recommend
"Today Johannesburg is a fascinating stew, a veritable urban donut in which most commerce and tourism occurs in an outlying ring that surrounds what was once the city center ... today's visitors can enjoy extraordinary levels of luxury lodging, fine dining and intriguing shopping at relatively little cost."

David R. Squires, Editor, BlackVoices.com (article also appeared in the Baltimore Sun)
“New visitors to South Africa quickly find that they get to pick their passions.  Sandy beaches with blue-green waters or mountaintops enshrouded by snow-white clouds.  Rump-shaking discos that let you bump and grind until sunrise or casinos with generous blackjack dealers and burping slot machines.  Or how about down home soul food near the gaze of lions, tigers and elephants, or select from a gourmet menu under shelter of a 5-star hotel?”

Jeff Laign, Recommend
“A spicy melange of culture, cuisine and captivating landscapes, South Africa serves up a feast of fascinating venues - from colorful Cape Town and the lush winelands to bustling Johannesburg and the wilds of Kruger National Park … There is no lack of activities in Johannesburg.  Tourists will enjoy everything from upscale shops to museums, galleries, casinos and nightclubs.  Clients moreover should set aside a day to tour Soweto, the sprawling black township where many of South Africa’s new freedoms were conceived.”

Jad Davenport, Jax Fax
"For sunlovers, Durban is a tropical paradise.  Blessed with endless beaches and a pleasant year-round climate, South Africa's third largest city is a maze of modern apartment blocks and industrial piers lining the shore."

Eleena de Lisser, Wall Street Journal
“Today, four centuries later, the strength of the U.S. dollar against the South African rand makes it an attractive destination, mingling outdoor activities from rock-climbing to whale-watching with an oenophile’s paradise.”

James Molesworth, Wine Spectator
“With a historical tradition of wine-making that extends back to the 17th century, as well as a quickly modernizing wine industry, South Africa is primed to compete successfully on the world’s wine stage.  With several new, forward-looking wineries emerging to stand alongside some of the region’s established best, South Africa is more than qualified to get the respect it deserves.”

Stephan Wilkinson, Conde Nast Traveler
“Cape Town is on everyone’s shortlist for the world’s most beautiful city, and for good reason.  With the Atlantic at its feet and mountains rising at its back, the place is a stunner … The air is crystalline, everything stunningly visible for miles and miles, the mountains so sharp and distinct in their stratification that you feel you’re looking straight into the earth.  Uneroded, they seem to have just arrived at the surface … South Africa’s outback is a land like no other; I can find no comparison for this primitive, otherworldly emptiness.”

John Frederick Walker, Saveur
“Stellenbosch has been called the Napa valley of South Africa – it is no farther from Cape Town than the Napa Valley is from San Francisco and boasts a similar concentration of new and historic estates and attention-getting winemakers – but in appearance it easily bests its California counterpart.  Centuries of winegrowing have only partly tamed the landscape; hillside vineyars and whitewashed farmhouses are tucked up against the shadows of looming, craggy mountains.  Stellenbosch is Yellowstone with vineyards.”

Frank J. Prial, The New York Times
“Stellenbosch, South Africa — Coming back here after an absence of nine years is like meeting an old friend grown younger.  The deep verdant valleys, the improbably beautiful mountains rising from the sea, the plants and flowers found nowhere else — all rest immutable.  But in and around them, one senses a new spirit, an eagerness to meet the world, not with defiance and resentment but with the pride that comes from building a new nation.”

Christina Valhouli, Forbes.com
“ … South Africa remains a fascinating country of juxtapositions and staggering beauty. Where else but in Africa's southernmost country can you go on safari, whitewater raft, tour vineyards, visit a witch doctor in a township and then catch a sunset concert at the foot of Table Mountain all in the same day?”  Sun City is a lot like Las Vegas. It's mesmerizing, over-the-top and vulgar, but wholly fun, and should be experienced at least once in your lifetime.

Tom Masland, Newsweek
“Gorgeous Cape Town has embraced all types of getting air … Paragliding, kitesurfing, extreme rock climbing, sandboarding – the list of thrills and chills seems endless.  That and the rock-bottom rand make Cape Town a prime destination for the backpacker set.”

Mike Cohen, Associated Press
“The game drives are a thrill and the luxury hotels a treat, but what really puts a smile on the face of foreign visitors to South Africa is how little it all costs.”

Dotty Griffith, staff writer, Dallas Morning News
“When it comes to travel bargains, there are few like South Africa.”

Millie Ball, travel editor, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
“But Cape Town, arguably South Africa’s most sophisticated city and certainly one of the most beautiful in the world, is an international metropolis where it’s simple to find almost any kind of food and music you want.  It’s also a complicated place that can be visited on many levels.”

Marguerite Thomas, Wine News
“Some four centuries later, the beauty of the place still astounds the senses with its bounty of oceans, undulating coastline and dramatic mountains that look as if they’d popped straight up out of the earth’s crust … South Africa may be far away for most of us, but from the Winelands surrounding the ‘fairest’ Cape to the vast, untamed bushveld, this is a unique and unforgettable country.”

Bill Thompson, III, BirdWatcher’s Digest
“South Africa’s wildlife overwhelmed me.  It’s not just the 300-plus bird species or the knockout mammal species that we saw.  It’s also that so many of these creatures are endemics, found only in South Africa … I did a bit of research before my arrival in Johannesburg, hoping that I would not be totally unprepared for the nine-day birding trip, but no amount of research could have prepared me for the experience.”

Robert Ellsworth, Genre
“… Cape Town is a cultural melting pot of diverse and vibrant character that is one of the friendliest, craziest cities in the world.  Bustling and beautiful, this sequestered city appeals to the nature-lover and the nightcrawler.”

Ed Salvato, Outandabout.com
“South Africa is an extraordinary country for travelers in general, and especially so for gay travelers … Combine gay activities with a broad range of natural and cultural attractions, a strong U.S. dollar and a first-world travel infrastructure, and it’s easy to see why so many gay travelers come home from a trip raving about the place.”

Jeff Adams, Dayton Daily News
“A wide variety of jazz clubs, shopping malls, restaurants and hotels are available.  Johannesburg also can boast to having what some consider one of the best international airports on the continent.”

Ed Salvato, Out & About
“Though many middle-class residents have retreated to the leafy suburbs, Jo’burg remains a city with an edge, a thriving art scene and a warm, friendly gay community.  There are many interesting attractions to visit, it is inexpensive for North Americans, and if offers great shopping and entertainment.”

Reid Bramblett, Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel
“European-inflected South Africa is an ideal introduction to the continent—easy to navigate, English-speaking, and flush with safari opportunities, dramatic African vistas, and everything from fine wines to natural wonders. It’s also a budget travel gem: a fascinating and exotic destination where the cost of living is less than half that Stateside (you can easily get by on $50 a day)…Cape Town is a hip and happening town with much of the beauty that is South Africa on display either in the city or easily accessible nearby…Tourists flock here to enjoy the Cape Dutch architecture, penguin-filled beaches, hikes on the shimmering flank of Table Mountain rising right out of downtown, and picnics in the Constantia wine country. There are few more exciting places in Africa.”

Jayne Clark, USA Today
“Moreover, this modern, sophisticated city sits in one of the most dazzling locales on earth at the southern tip of Africa sandwiched between the Atlantic and Indian oceans with rugged Table Mountain rising 3,475 feet above.  In popularity contests among destinations, Cape Town rivals cities such as Sydney, San Francisco and Vancouver.”

Joan Tarshis, Smoke Magazine
“My trip to South Africa profoundly changed my life.  While I had once thought the continent was the place where Cape buffalo and the antelope played under clear, savannah skies, I discovered something more profound – about nature, about mankind, about myself.”

Charles Duhigg, Boston Sunday Globe
“The appeal is understandable:  The Southern tip of the African continent boasts some of the world’s most beautiful shorelines, vineyards set amid dramatic mountain ranges, and game parks where elephants, lions, and leopards roam.” 

Michael C. McDermott, Patriot Ledger
“The city (Cape Town) on the southwestern Cape Peninsula is fast becoming one of the premier tourist destinations in the world, and it is a highlight of any trip to South Africa.  Backed against the Atlanta Ocean by the 3,300-foot, flat-topped peak of Table Mountain, Cape Town and its environs offer superb scenic walks, scores of beautiful beaches and a culture that is a hybrid of Africa, European and Asian influences … KwaZulu-Natal is home to the country’s most magnificent mountain scenery in the Drakensburg range …

Luainne Lee, Knight-Ridder Tribune News Service
“There's plenty to see in Cape Town itself, including Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 17 years, the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and it myriad proteas, the sea- scarred peninsula, great restaurants and swinging nightlife…Just 50 minutes east of Cape Town lies South Africa's glorious wine country.  The Dutch town of Stellenbosch is post-card perfect with its thatched roofs, imported oak trees and dozens of wineries.”

Joseph Ward, Conde Nast Traveler
“With its historic house and vineyard with seaside views, Meerlust is one of the loveliest and most important properties in South Africa’s Stellenbosch region…I was so taken by the beauty of this property that I had trouble keeping my mind on the wine.”

Edward Robbins, Conde Nast Traveler
“The dinner tables have turned, and the fusion that politics stood in the way of for so long is at last taking place.  As with so many aspects of the new South Africa, the result is wonderful to behold, but in this case even better to taste.”

Henri E. Cauvin, The New York Times
“… because Johannesburg has more to offer than most travelers and even many local people know – from landmarks of the anti-apartheid struggle to treasures of African art.”

Kathleen H. Dodge, Physician’s Money Digest
“Added to the attractive value, South Africa’s stunning scenery, posh country inns, and big-game wildlife impress first-time visitors and seasoned travelers alike … Once considered the secret haven of upscale travelers, South Africa has moved into the mainstream.  Attracted by its heritage and world-class game viewing, visitors enjoy gourmet dining, tours of picturesque wineland villages, and stays in award-winning luxury country manors … Few spots on earth offer vacationers options that combine wine tasting with wildlife, or 5-star comfort with game viewing in the African bush.  The only complaint – visitors wish they could stay longer.”

Monifa Thomas, Dayton Daily News
“Known for being one of the original Dutch homesteads in South Africa, the vineyards of Constantia also stand out as being one of the best places to view the stunning natural landscape that attracts thousands of tourists to Cape Town each year … Few places on earth provide such clear evidence of having received preferential treatment from Mother Nature.”

Brendan Lemon, Out Magazine
“At the end of a recent, cape-concentrated visit, arranged by the wonderful gay luxury travel company DavidTours, I felt ready to proclaim the country the most interesting in the world right now … But the cape’s true glory lies in the magnificent coastline of the peninsula just below the city and in the surrounding wine country.”

Paul Roberts, Black Meetings & Tourism
“South Africa’s cities are an exciting mix of first and third world influences, offering a veritable kaleidoscope of sights and sounds.  From contemporary Cape Town – one of the most beautiful cities in the world – to the busy, bustling Johannesburg on the highveld, each has its own unique attractions and cultural influences … It is in Cape Town that the notion of diversity really covers the spectrum, as nowhere else in the country is there such a remarkable collage of culture … An often misunderstood and misrepresented city, Johannesburg is a vibrant and dynamic place with a throbbing pulse and an awesome sense of rhythm … Often overlooked by travelers in search of glitz and glamour, Port Elizabeth is probably South Africa’s best-kept secret.  Fantastic weather and an enormous range of attractions make it a great place for a totally relaxing stay … Among the best reasons for bringing your delegates, incentive group or friends to South Africa is an opportunity to visit its uniquely individual nine provinces.  Each one is like discovering a new country.  For sheer variety and contrasts, you can’t beat a journey that takes you across majestic mountain ranges from north to south, or along the pristine coast from west to east, interspersed with modern cities and quaint historic towns.”

Jean Pierre-Rossouw, Wine Enthusiast
“The good news is that Cape Town and the essential Cape winelands encompass a compact geographic space.  The challenge is that there is a great deal to see.  Visitors should allow at least a week to explore the area and should arrive with an idea of which specific sites or wineries that they would like to visit.  An incredible variety of wineries and natural attractions awaits the Cape tourist.”

Funmi Okunbolade, Meeting Professional
“There is a lighter side to the country—a side that the European meeting industry has embraced and the North American market is only now beginning to discover as the country reinvents itself as a world-class meeting destination.”

Zoë Wolff, Gentlemen’s Quarterly (GQ)
“Most people flock to Cape Town for sun and surf, but don’t start picturing an African Daytona Beach.  South Africa’s Mother City still has the kind of thriving, liberal-minded cultural scene that most Western cities crave.”

Arthur Frommer, syndicated column
“Whenever a colleague mentions his recent trips to South Africa or the South Pacific, there’s always an excited reaction.  ‘Oh, I’ve always wanted to go there!’ people say.  ‘Someday, that’s where I’m going to go.’  The destinations to which they refer are Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.  All of them are English-speaking, noted for their extreme beauty – and located just far enough to make most travelers feel they’re out of reach.”

David Bear, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“South Africa has a first-class travel infrastructure, with modern, secure airports and a well-developed highway system…And South Africa seems to be bustling with visitors from around the world.”

Bill Mondigo, freelance travel writer
“Durban, the other capital city of South Africa, is a beautiful port city on the Indian Ocean…Durban is a huge vacation destination for South African travelers, as well as visiting Europeans, so there is a vibrant theater and art scene…All in all, South Africa was outstanding — a beautiful, welcoming country with some of the most spectacular scenery and a hopeful outlook for their future.”

Robert Nolan, Global Rhythm
“While all nine provinces offer distinct opportunities to explore and appreciate the beauty unique to Southern Africa, nowhere is it more accessible than in the northeast region of KwaZulu-Natal… a perfect place to begin a lifelong infatuation with Africa.  Easily navigated and moderately priced for travelers, the region continues to beckon backpackers, families and the culturally curious to its mountains and shores.”

Cathie Siemer, Ocala
“Much international acclaim has been afforded the Kruger National Park, which is regarded as one of the world’s finest examples of wildlife management.  Unrivaled in its rich diversity, the park offers a wilderness experience that is unparalleled by any other place in Africa.”

Linda Smalley, The Arizona Daily Star
“Stunning surfing beaches and whale-watching in the fishing town of Hermanus might remind you of Southern California…The strong U.S. dollar enables the American traveler to experience a luxury vacation on an economy budget.”

Andrew Mersmann, New York Blade
“South Africa…is providing a level of opulence and decadence I normally experience only through movies.”

Faisal Shariff, India Today
“The wine lands are among the most beautiful in the world, and the sheer beauty of the region is sufficient to seduce even a confirmed teetotaler like me.”